Audio Visual and Theatrical Stage Lighting System with Construction Completion Anticipated For Late June 2018

 

By Steve Otero – Regional Technology Director for Bridgers and Paxton Consulting Engineers
June 11, 2018, Albuquerque NM

 
Albuquerque, NM – Construction is underway on upgrades to the Civic Plaza outdoor stage; including a complete overhaul of the Audiovisual and Theatrical Lighting systems. Bridgers and Paxton Consulting Engineers’ designed A/V and Theatrical Lighting systems which will drastically improve the utility of the venue. As a result, the design team expects this to greatly increase the value of this venue as a popular rental asset and a landmark that the community can both enjoy using and take pride in.
Bridgers and Paxton Consulting Engineers was responsible for designing both the Audiovisual and Theatrical Lighting systems. The new systems were designed from the ground up to fulfill the primary goals of the project as laid out by the City of Albuquerque. The City’s criteria being:

  • The systems must be easy enough to use that is feasible for any person to be able to rent the space and use it, at least in a basic capacity, with minimal assistance from city staff but also flexible enough to not impede professional staging companies from being able to fully utilize all of the system’s capabilities.
  • The systems must be technologically advanced and must provide a significant “wow factor” in order to attract potential renters while also staying within budget.
  • The video system must include an outdoor-rated LED video wall with 1080p resolution. It must also be sized large enough to allow it to be used as an alternative to the portable projection screen that the city currently uses to host movie nights in the plaza.
  • The audio system must include a new speaker system which is capable of being used on its own for small to medium events but also capable of being expanded with additional portable sound equipment to function as part of a larger overall sound system suitable for large events. Additionally, the new speaker system must be designed to focus the event audio on a designated audience area and minimize spill in order to reduce noise complaints from nearby businesses.
  • The theatrical lighting system must provide functional capabilities at least equivalent to the existing lighting system.

 
In order to fulfill the functional requirements from the City of Albuquerque, Bridgers and Paxton designed the new Audiovisual and Theatrical Lighting systems to feature:

  • A cutting-edge outdoor-rated LED video wall with 4.8mm pixel pitch sized roughly 30’ wide by 16’ tall (35.2’ diagonal) for an excellent viewing experience from over 130’ away and sharp image quality even in the front row of seats. This is one of the largest outdoor-rated video walls at this pixel density currently installed anywhere in the USA.
  • A sound system utilizing dual outdoor-rated line-array loudspeaker clusters configured based on the results from multiple electro-acoustic computer simulations of the venue.
  • A theatrical lighting system utilizing outdoor-rated color-changing LED theatrical light fixtures and both a lighting control system and overhead mounting system with ample available capacity for future growth.



Construction is nearing completion. LED video wall is installed, speaker array and sound system are installed. Protection cover for the LED video wall is currently being constructed.



Engineered speaker arrays and sound system are designed and engineered to immerse the plaza with professional quality sound.

     

Theatrical stage lighting system and construction completion is anticipated for late June 2018.



Screen protection cover and Frame have been completed!